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Leadership Letters

Writings on Christian leadership and leader development by Malcolm Webber


Are Leaders Born or Made?

For years, people have debated whether leaders are born or made. Traditionally, debaters fall into four main schools of thought: The “born-leader” school This approach asserts that genes are the major forces behind leadership. You are either a “born-leader” or you are not. Since the “right genes” are relatively rare, effective leaders [...]

Malcolm WebberMalcolm Webber

Building Leaders in Real Life

Leaders who build leaders should themselves be involved in the daily responsibilities of leadership. They should not teach in some artificial environment removed from the real world. Jesus and Paul both conducted extensive and fruitful personal ministries while concurrently building new leaders. A leader wears several distinct “hats” in [...]

Malcolm WebberMalcolm Webber

Five Kinds of Power

A leader helps someone move from where he is now to somewhere else. But what about how the leader motivates that move? We may define leadership “power” as the leader’s capacity to influence others to move from where they are now to somewhere else. There are essentially five reasons why people follow someone else, or five kinds of [...]

Malcolm WebberMalcolm Webber

New Realities of Church Leadership

A “paradigm” is a mental model that describes a particular view of the world. It is a set of rules and regulations that defines boundaries and provides a means for being successful within those boundaries. The church is currently undergoing massive paradigm shifts. Before, tradition was central. Now, relevance is. Yesterday’s spiritual [...]

Malcolm WebberMalcolm Webber

Leading Transformation

Transformation is radical change. To transform means to change in the way that a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly, or a tadpole into a frog, or a baby into a child and then into an adult. After the process is completed, it is as if the older form ceases to exist. Transaction, on the other hand, is simple exchange. It is benefits [...]

Malcolm WebberMalcolm Webber

Leaders Are Built Through Fire

Diamonds are formed in a specific environment, requiring three things: a lump of carbon, extreme pressures (725,000 pounds per square inch) and high temperatures (upwards of 2000 °F). These forces combine to make something of dazzling beauty. Pressure and heat purify and strengthen – steel is hardened in the fire, gold purified in the [...]

Malcolm WebberMalcolm Webber